Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (also referred to simply as Modern Warfare) is a first-person shooter video game and the first ''Call of Duty'' installment to take place in a modern setting instead of World War II. It was announced on April 25, 2007 and was released on November 5, 2007. Call of Duty 4 was published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward, and is available on the PC, Macintosh, Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. A Wii version of the game, called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, was handled by Treyarch, and was released on November 10th, 2009. The game is followed by a direct sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Gameplay Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare differs from the rest of the ''Call of Duty'' series. Previous Call of Duty games had a distinct three country-specific campaign style, while Call of Duty 4 has a more film-like plot with interlaced story lines from the perspectives of Sergeant Paul Jackson of the USMC 1st Force Recon and Sergeant 'Soap' MacTavish of the British 22nd SAS Regiment. There is also a variety of style missions where players control other characters such as an unidentified AC-130H gunship operator and Lieutenant Price in his flashback as a member of a two man sniper team on an assassination mission in Pripyat, Ukraine. The move to modern warfare has introduced a variety of conventional weapons and technologies to the Call of Duty Series, such as the M4A1 assault rifle, Barrett .50 Cal sniper rifle and C4 plastic explosive. For information on the engine the game runs on, see Infinity Ward Game Engine Mechanics. Plot In 2011, a Russian Ultranationalist by the name of Imran Zakhaev is determined to return his homeland to the Soviet times. Zakhaev knows the United States of America would never allow this to happen, thus he funds a coup in the Middle East, organized by his ally Khaled Al-Asad, to draw public attention to the Middle East instead of Russia. Prologue In the Prologue levels, players take the role of Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish in his initiation into the SAS. The players will meet the members of the SAS squad and go through a basic tutorial of the game play, which includes a basic shooting range and a time trial in a mock cargo ship set up. The player will then proceed on a mission to intercept the real cargo ship in the Bering Strait alongside Captain Price and Gaz. In the cargo hold, the SAS team finds a nuclear warhead draped in a flag with Arabic writing. The ship is subsequently attacked by MiG's, with the SAS team barely escaping from the sinking ship. Players then switch roles with President Al-Fulani of an unknown Middle Eastern country that borders Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea, as he is executed by Al-Asad. Act 1 In Act 1, MacTavish, Captain Price and Gaz rescue a Russian informant, code-name "Nikolai". They are supported by Russian Loyalists led by Sgt. Kamarov. While escaping with Nikolai, their helicopter is shot down, and they then flee from Ultranationalist search teams. Later on, the player takes control of the gunner of an AC-130H Spectre gunship that provides fire support for Captain Price and the surviving SAS members. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Sergeant Paul Jackson, Lieutenant Vasquez and Staff Sergeant Griggs fight their way into the country Al-Fulani was executed in. They first attack a television studio where they believe Al-Asad is broadcasting, but it turns out to be a recording. They then rescue a stranded Abrams tank called War Pig in a bog under heavy OpFor fire. They escort War Pig through a town swarming with OpFor, back to the highway. They are then extracted by a CH-46 Sea Knight. Their efforts culminate in a massive assault upon the capital city. Jackson is assigned to the Mk 19 on the Sea Knight, providing covering fire to ground forces. The squad are then assigned to rescue a stranded advanced team. As they pull out, their escort Cobra, callsign "Deadly" is shot down. They rescue the pilot, however, a nuclear weapon is detonated, killing Jackson, Vasquez and 30,000 other servicemen. Griggs was not present during the detonation. Act 2 In Act 2, Price's SAS team is tasked with finding and capturing Al-Asad in his safehouse in Azerbaijan. When it is found out that Zakhaev is supplying Al-Asad, Price executes Al-Asad. There is then a flashback mission where Captain MacMillan, a sniper team leader, and, then Lieutenant, Price are sent in to the first assassination mission issued by the British government since World War II. Their target is Zakhaev, then a rich Ultranationalist and arms dealer. As they crawl through the countryside in ghillie suits, silently sniping enemy patrols or letting them go, they reach an abandoned hotel where they get a clear view of Zakhaev exchanging nuclear rods for weapons. He is shot by Price, but only his arm is lost. Price and MacMillian, who gets his legs injured when a helicopter crashes, then contact an evac chopper and escape. Back in the present, the squad evacuates from the town on the Sea Knight "Big Bird", which has Griggs on it. Then, Soap and his SAS team, Griggs' Marine squad and Sgt. Kamarov's Russian Loyalists attempt to capture Victor Zakhaev, Imran Zakhaev's son for information. However, just when the strike force corners Victor, he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head to avoid capture. Act 3 In Act 3, MacTavish and the SAS squad, joined by an American sniper team and an American Marine squad, attempt to retake a launch facility recently captured by the Ultranationalists. Price knew Zakhaev was outraged by the death of his son and would threaten to launch ICBMs at the US. They first rescue Griggs after he misses the landing zone and is taken hostage by the Ultranationalists.They then knock out the power to the ICBM facility so the Marines can breach the perimeter. Then they meet with the American sniper team, but two ICBMs are launched at the US Eastern seaboard, which could cause 40 million casualties. They enter the facility and after retaking it and aborting the launch, MacTavish, Gaz, Price, Griggs, and some other squad members escape in Russian trucks. The Ultranationalists pursue them and an enemy helicopter damages a bridge vital to their escape. The men crash, stranding the squad without support. After a tanker explodes, all of the squad members are incapacitated, except Griggs, and Zakhaev comes to the bridge to observe. Griggs is shot in the head while trying to drag MacTavish to safety and Gaz is executed by Zakhaev. When Zakhaev is on the verge of killing Soap, a Loyalist Mi-28 destroys the Hind and distracts Zakhaev long enough for Price to toss MacTavish his M1911 .45, which MacTavish uses to kill Zakhaev and his guards. Russian Loyalists come to aid the men, evacuating MacTavish and attempting to revive Price, who appears to be unconscious (can be seen in MW2 ) when the medic attempting to resuscitate him becomes frustrated. A television news report is played mentioning the events of the game, but the newscaster dismisses the events as "struggles" and "nuclear missile testing", stating that the real events of the past six days were unknown to the public. Epilogue In the Epilogue, a bonus mission can be played titled, Mile High Club. This bonus mission is seemingly unrelated to the plot. In it, the player takes the role of an unnamed SAS officer (possibly "Soap"), and must make his way through a terrorist-infested double decker airliner, while safely securing a hostage VIP. Campaign missions * Note that in the last mission of every act, the playable character or someone who was heavily involved in the storyline dies. In The Coup, Al-Fulani is executed by Al-Asad. In Aftermath, Jackson dies of his wounds due to a nuclear blast and helicopter crash. In The Sins of the Father, Victor Zakhaev commits suicide. Lastly, in Game Over, Griggs, Gaz, and Imran Zakhaev are shot to death. Prologue *F.N.G. *Crew Expendable *The Coup Act I *Blackout *Charlie Don't Surf *The Bog *Hunted *Death From Above *War Pig *Shock and Awe *Aftermath Act II *Safehouse *All Ghillied Up *One Shot, One Kill *Heat *The Sins of the Father Act III *Ultimatum *All In *No Fighting In The War Room *Game Over Epilogue *Mile High Club Characters The game features the following as playable characters: *Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, 22nd SAS Regiment *Sergeant Paul Jackson, 1st Force Recon Co., U.S.M.C. *Lt. Price, 22nd SAS Regiment *An unnamed SAS Soldier ordered to rescue a hostage on a plane (possibly Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish", although this is not definite) *An unamed Thermal Imaging TV Operator aboard an AC-130H gunship *Yasir Al-Fulani, president of an unknown middle eastern country who was executed in The Coup (The player controls Al Fulani while he is in custody, limiting gameplay while in control) The game features the following as non-playable hostile characters (NPCs): *Unknown, 1st Horseman (Possibly a masked Makarov) *Imran Zakhaev, 4th Horseman *Victor Zakhaev, 3rd Horseman *Khaled Al-Asad, 2nd Horseman The game features the following as non-playable allied characters: *Captain Price, 22nd SAS Regiment *Gaz, 22nd SAS Regiment *Lieutenant Vasquez, 1st Force Recon Co., U.S.M.C. *Staff Sergeant Griggs, 1st Force Recon Co., U.S.M.C. *Sergeant Kamarov, Russian Loyalist *Private Lopez *Private Gaines *Mac *Arem *Private Griffen *Sergeant Wallcroft *Private West *Private Massey *Lieutenant Volker *Private Roycewicz *Captain Pelayo *Keating, Captain Pelayo's gunner Trailer The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer which showed in-game footage was released on April 28, 2007. In the background a speech is given in Russian: A voice at the end speaks the Russian translation of a quote by Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War: "Enemy forces sighted" and "American forces nearby" are also said in Arabic in the trailer. Multiplayer Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare features a new mode called: Hardcore. In Hardcore mode, health of all players is decreased from 100 to 30, the heads-up display is removed and friendly fire is enabled. Standard game modes such as Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch, and more recently, Headquarters are included. Game Modes * Team Deathmatch - Use teamwork to kill opposing players and reach score limit. Players: 6 - 12. Score limit: 750 points. Kill: 10 points. * Mercenary Team Deathmatch - Use teamwork to kill opposing players and reach score limit. Teams are randomized. Players: 6 - 12. No parties. Score limit: 750 points. Kill: 10 points. * Free-for-All - Every player for him/herself. Players: 6 - 8. Score limit: 125 points. Kill: 5 points. * Domination - Flags are placed at certain points around the map. All flags start neutral. Players fight to hold the most flags. The match ends when the time limit or the score limit is reached. Kill: 5 points * Ground War- A combination of Domination and Team Deathmatch. The score limit for Team deathmatch is 1000 points. Players: maximum of 18. * Sabotage - Similar to Search and Destroy, except that the bomb is neutral. Players must take the bomb and plant it at objectives located in the enemy team's base. The bomb carrier can fire his weapons, but his/her position will be announced periodically throughout the game. Also, unlike Search and Destroy, players will have unlimited respawns as opposed to just one per round. Kill: 10 points * Headquarters - A laptop is randomly spawned on the map. Players must capture the laptop by staying near it within a certain amount of time; the more friendly players are near the laptop, the faster the laptop is captured. Players earn points for every 5 seconds the laptop is held. If Team SAS captures the laptop, they must defend it from being destroyed by Team Speztnaz. Team SAS will not respawn until the laptop is destroyed or the max time limit for the headquarters is reached. Team Speztnaz will respawn as usual. The more Team Speztnas players there are near the laptop, the faster the laptop will be destroyed. A new laptop spawns when the time limit is reached or the laptop is destroyed. Kill: 5 Points * Search and Destroy - This mode plays almost exactly like Counter-Strike's classic bomb planting mode; two teams of players will play as either attackers or defenders. Attackers will try to plant a bomb at one of two bomb sites, and defenders will try to defend the bomb sites. If the explosives are planted, the attackers and defenders switch roles as the attackers must now defend the bombs from the defenders, who will try to disarm the bomb. Players do not respawn. A round is over when all players on one team are killed, or when the bomb successfully detonates or is defused. Team will switch between attackers and defenders 2 rounds into the game. Kill: 50 points * Team Tactical - Small team games that play Team Deathmatch, Domination, Headquarters, Sabotage and Search & Destroy. Players: 4 - 6. Score limit: 500 points. Kill: 10 points. * Hardcore Team Deathmatch - This is the same as Team Deathmatch, except that player health is lowered, the HUD (Heads-Up-Display) is removed and teammates can be killed by Friendly Fire. * Hardcore Search and Destroy - This is the same as Search and Destroy, except that player health is lowered, the HUD is removed, and teammates can be killed by the player. * Old School - This is a Free-for-all mode featuring increased health, higher jumping, unlimited sprint, doubled magazine capacity for all weapons, no class selections (players spawn at random places on the map with a Vz. 61 Skorpion, an M9 pistol, and a fragmentation grenade; new weapons and perks are found throughout the level with pickups. * Cage Match - One on one deathmatches ( Fight to the death). Many people like to use this game to play with their friends, taking turns getting headshots to get the popular red tiger on guns. This is best known as "boosting". Score limit: 50 points. Kill: 5 points. * Hardcore Headquarters - Recently added, Headquarters with lowered health and the HUD is removed. Maps There are currently 20 multiplayer maps in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: *'Ambush' - Large desert town. *'Backlot' - Medium sized construction site and town. *'Bloc' - Large Ukrainian apartment bloc very close to Chernobyl. *'Broadcast' - Fairly Large television broadcast center. (Part of the Variety Map Pack) *'Bog' - Small desert bog. *'Chinatown (Carentan)' - Large Town. Windows/buildings everywhere. (Part of the Variety Map Pack) *'Countdown' - Open launch pad. Huge sight lines and dangerous maneuvering. *'Crash' - Large map, with a downed Sea Knight in a desert town. *'Creek' - Big map of the great outdoors around a creek. (Part of the Variety Map Pack) *'Crossfire' - Small desert town. Intense interior fighting and strong firefights. *'District' - Large urban town with a market in the middle. *'Downpour' - Big rainy Russian farm. *'Killhouse' - Small SAS training facility. (Part of the Variety Map Pack) *'Overgrown' - Large overgrown rural Russian area. *'Pipeline' - Russian trainyard. *'Shipment' - Tiny Russian shipyard. Fast paced action with no hiding. *'Showdown' - Small desert arena. *'Strike' - Large urban desert town. *'Vacant' - Deserted Russian office. Intense interior fighting. *'Wet Work' - Medium-large cargo ship. *'Winter Crash' - Crash at night with snow and a Christmas tree in the middle of the map (Only when multiplayer upgraded to 1.4 version) (Christmas time special) (PC only). Class customization For multiplayer, Call of Duty 4 includes a class system which has five preset classes with default weapon loadouts and perks assigned to them as well as allowing users to create five custom classes where the user can customize their weapon loadout and three perks to assign to their character. The five default classes include Assault, Spec Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions, and Sniper class. Create a class is unlocked when the user gains enough Experience Points (XP) to become a Lance Corporal (level 4), earned by killing opponents. XP will also vary depending on the type of match the user is playing. Only three of the classes are available to a first time player; Demolitions and Sniper are unlocked as he/she gains more experience online and gains higher rank. The class system is different in offline multiplayer (split-screen on the consoles), where players instead pick from a set of 10 classes pre-made by Infinity Ward, two for each weapon type and each with a specific purpose demonstrated by its name. For example, there is a "Close Quarters" class with a P90 and Red Dot Sight, or a "Survivalist" class with an M60E4 and a Desert Eagle. Some classes are less useful due to the nature of offline games, for example the "Ghost" class (an MP5 with a Silencer and stealth perks) is not so useful due to the split-screen view allowing players to know where the others are anyway, or the "Pointman" and "Defender" classes (W1200 and M1014 respectively) due to the rarity of surprise close quarters encounters. The highest level is 55, which unlocks Prestige Mode in console versions. Players will be able to save and name custom classes for quick access in multiplayer matches. Most of the new weapons and perks are unlocked as through increasing experience ranks, but there are also a separate number of challenges associated with each weapon that will subsequently open up new add-on gear as they are completed. Ranks Unlike previous Call of Duty games(with the exception of Call Of Duty: United Offensive,Call of Duty: Big Red One and Call of Duty 3), COD4 has a ranking system, which works on XP. The player gains XP by completing and winning matches, killing opponents and completing challenges. There are many ranks in COD4, which roughly follow the US Marine Corps ranks, however there are a few exceptions. There are 55 ranks in total, each with its own insignia but when a player activates prestige mode; the insignia is the same for the whole of that prestige. For more information on ranks and what is unlocked as the player goes through them, click here. Perks Another introduction in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the Perks system. Perks are special abilities which allow users to further customize their character to their personal play style. Each class can only have three different perks within three specific tiers. Weapons Players will have a choice of a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and a special grenade. * Primary weapon - Players can choose between assault rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, shotguns, or sniper rifles. There are two to seven choices in each weapon type. After a player picks a weapon, he/she can also pick attachments and camouflage to modify the weapon. * Secondary weapon - Players using the Overkill perk can choose a second primary weapon, without the camouflage. * Side Arm - These are pistols. They can only be chosen if Overkill isn't being used. * Special grenades - There are three types of special grenades: flash, stun, and smoke Grenade. Category:Call of Duty